Militaryעמנואל שחר

Emanuel Shahar

Emanuel Shahar was the founder of the Israeli Combat Engineering Corps and the IDF's first chief engineering officer, from 1949 to 1954.

1915 to 2009Founding the Combat Engineering CorpsFirst IDF chief engineering officerDirecting the Dead Sea Works

Died: 27 June 2009, Kfar Saba
Occupation: military officer
Rank: aluf mishne
Wars: 1948 Palestine war
Founded: Combat Engineering Corps (1947)

Emanuel Shahar was born in 1915 in Russia

Shahar was born in March 1915 in Skobelev in the Russian Empire and grew up in Kokand. His father Eliezer was a dentist, and his mother Rachel was the daughter of Rabbi Avraham Reznik. After his father died, he moved to the Land of Israel in 1921 with his mother and siblings.

He grew up in Jerusalem and studied at Tachkemoni, the Hebrew Reali Gymnasium and the Beit HaKerem teachers seminary. He later studied civil engineering at the Technion in Haifa and joined the Haganah there. He then worked for the Mandate government building Tegart forts near Gaza.

In 1941, with the approval of the Haganah, he joined the British Army as an engineering officer and served in Africa, Italy and Belgium. During those years he married Hana Senkevich. When Israel was founded, Ben-Gurion asked him to lay the foundations of the Combat Engineering Corps.

After leaving the IDF in 1954, he worked at Israel Shipyards. From 1958 to 1970 he was chief engineer and then director general of the Dead Sea Works. He later worked on engineering projects such as Dizengoff Center and headed the company that built Alfei Menashe.

Shahar died in Kfar Saba on June 27, 2009. His grandson is Rabbi Gilad Kariv, a member of the Knesset.

Emanuel Shahar's life in 9 milestones

1915
Born in Skobelev in the Russian Empire.
1921
Moved to the Land of Israel with his family.
1941
Joined the British Army as an engineering officer.
1947
Founded the Combat Engineering Corps.
1949
Became the IDF's first chief engineering officer.
1954
Left the IDF and joined Israel Shipyards.
1958
Began working at the Dead Sea Works.
1970
Left his post at the Dead Sea Works.
2009
Died in Kfar Saba.

Emanuel Shahar served in Combat Engineering Corps

Shahar served in the Haganah and from 1941 as an engineering officer in the British Army in Africa, Italy and Belgium. He founded the Israeli Combat Engineering Corps and was the IDF's first chief engineering officer from 1949 to 1954.

Combat Engineering Corps